The key thing is to try to own a mortgage-free house by age 55.
Shun places that have property tax of more than $10,000/year on a type of house you expect to die in.
Avoid having to work in really expensive places - i.e. shun electrical engineering, computer programming, foreign relations, marketing, intellectual property law, etc.
An MBA had better be good at sales.
Nurses, doctors, dentists, physician assistants, tradespeople can live almost anywhere.
Live below your means for 30 years and things will work out very well.
I am an electrical engineer - would not change it. Great career, very challenging, great pay.
I had a mortgage free home at 65, but also live where I pay no property tax. That can eat you up, because likely you are getting nothing or very little usable for it. Likely if you pay property tax, you are spending most of it to help somebody else’s kid through school. I think that is about 70% of the property tax where I live. There are other considerations where you might be able to save a little as well.